Netflix streaming could be about to get cheaper, the company has suggested in a Q3 2018 earnings call.
At present, the streaming service’s lowest priced offering is its £5.99 a month Basic plan, which sits below more premium £7.99 and £9.99 a month tiers.
However, Netflix’s chief product officer, Gregory Peters, hinted at the introduction of even more affordable packages during the company’s Q3 earnings call.
India was specifically mentioned as a country primed for more diverse pricing models – but the exec refused to rule out cheaper Netflix plans coming to other markets.
“We’ll experiment with other pricing models not only for India, but around the world that allow us to sort of broaden access by providing a pricing tier that sits below our current lowest tier. And we’ll see how that does in terms of being able to accelerate our growth and get more access,” Netflix’s Peters said in the call.
The company didn’t go into its future price plans in additional detail, leaving us to wonder what ultra-affordable Netflix might look like – mobile-only viewing, perhaps, or the introduction of a long-feared, ad supported tier at the bottom of the Netflix lineup?
Beyond that, the earnings call – which also featured Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and chief content officer Ted Sarandos – nodded to last year’s Netflix price hikes, with the company admitted that additional costs had to be passed on to viewers “from time to time.”
That raises the spectre of Netflix not only getting cheaper, but potentially more expensive still – not that we’re talking about anything overdraft-busting at this stage.
Earlier in the year, it was discovered that Netflix was testing an additional premium tier, dubbed Ultra, which would presumably cost more than the £9.99 a month Netflix Premium package and play host to most of the service’s 4K content.
Related: Netflix vs Amazon Prime Video
We’ll have to wait and see just how it alll unravels, but it seems that more Netflix streaming options seem more a matter of when, rather than if, at this stage.
What compromises would you make for cheaper Netflix? Let us know over on Twitter @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
